Temptation at the Stream
by merixthexninja
Summary: Oneshot, Zutara. Katara wanders away from camp one day, and comes across someone she just can't take her eyes off of.


Temptation at the Stream

It was the same old, same old at the campsite. Toph and Aang were practicing Earth bending, the young girl nearly killing her pupil with several boulders, and Sokka was off no doubt hunting some "meat creature" as he called them. Katara had two choices—either watch Toph try to flatten Aang with rocks, or find a stream and practice Water bending. Of course, it was a clear choice.

Katara was going to tell Aang where she was going so that he wouldn't worry, but she decided the boy was too busy trying to ward off boulders at the moment to be bothered, and just went off into the woods.

The girl walked around aimlessly for an hour or so, and did a good job of getting herself lost. It wasn't entirely her fault; she had things occupying her thoughts, such as what _she_ would have to make for dinner and when _she_ would have to go shopping for supplies again. She was like the mother of her little group, and it really got annoying to always have to take charge of everything.

Now, she's lost.

"Ah, well," she sighed, "Worse comes to worse, they can make their own dinner for a change." She giggled a bit, but then her smile faded as she glanced the slowly-but-surely setting sun through the trees.

Katara turned around and tried to retrace her steps through the woods. This was a very difficult thing, as all the trees looked very similar—tall, straight, and green. Try as she might, the girl couldn't tell one from the next and only succeeded in asserting the fact that she was indeed lost.

Another hour passed, and for all she knew she was running in circles. Nothing Katara came across looked familiar to her, and she was getting a bit worried about running out of daylight. Stopping to rest for a moment, she sat down and tried to calm herself. As she caught her breath, she heard the faint sound of running water. She hadn't heard it before; her breathing must have been louder than she thought!

She walked towards the sound of it, though she wasn't entirely sure what good it would do her, but she figured a stream was better then the endless trees she'd been stuck in before. At last she came to it and was about to jump in for a refreshing drink and swim (it was her element!) when she saw something and stopped, hiding behind the trunk of a thick evergreen. It was a figure walking towards her! She decided to wait and see if it was a friend or enemy, though, before she asked them if they'd seen her campsite anywhere nearby.

She made it out to be a boy… he had short, choppy black hair and a confident stride. He was wearing some earth nation clothes and appeared to be alone, but she couldn't make out his face just yet. Katara didn't know if it was an odd effect from the setting sun's light or what, but something looked odd about his left eye…

She nearly jumped when she realized the boy was Zuko, and that he was coming right towards her. Did he see me, she worried. Oh, gods, don't let him have seen me! She was almost ready to turn around and run when she saw him do the oddest thing… he had taken off his shirt! Katara couldn't help look at him; she'd never seen him without his shirt before. However, when he pulled off his pants she blushed and turned away so fast her neck cracked. What on earth was he doing!

She heard a splash behind her and immediately felt stupid. He was obviously taking a bath, and she was spying on him. She wanted to leave the way she came, but couldn't help but let her eyes wander out to where he was half-submerged in the water. This is so wrong, she thought, but I don't think I can stop looking…

Katara stood watching him from behind the tree for a while, until the sun was setting below the tree line. It was amazing to her, she had assumed because he was a Fire bender that he wasn't good with water, but to watch his strong, graceful strokes as he swam in the stream she could have sworn he was Water Tribe from birth. She watched him go under the water and come up again, his hair flat from the water.

She was broken from her trance as he walked to the shallow end and out of the stream, and quickly looked away, not wanting to see anything she shouldn't. With his back to her, she turned and ran back into the forest. Her breathing was growing unsteady as she ran through the forest again, and she was still thinking about what she saw at the stream. All at once she slammed into her brother and the both of them fell to the ground.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Zuko looked back at the tree where the Water Tribe girl had been "hiding." She was gone, now, but he was surprised by how long she had stayed there watching him. Shrugging, he toweled off and dressed, heading back to camp with a sly grin on his face.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Hey, what was that for?!"

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

The boy stood up and brushed himself off, "I came to find you; you've been gone all day."

"Oh, I have?" she muttered, and stood up as well, embracing her brother. "Glad to see you."

They hugged and Sokka started walking, leading her back to camp. "Yeah, glad to see you too. But why are you blushing?"


End file.
